Several asked how I dry my peppers. If I have other things to dry, I just stick them in the dehydrator. If there’s nothing else to dry, I thread a large needle with heavy duty thread or even a lightweight yarn, string the peppers up through their stems and hang them somewhere to dry. Actually because we don’t use our dining room much, I most often just loop the string over the light fixture in the dining room and let them dry there.
The dehydrator is great for so many uses though. Most of the year it gets used for jerky but this time of year, I use it for anything I’m not wanting to can. Over the weekend I did a batch of peaches and threw in a few green beans. The green beans work great for stews and soups, especially in the crock pot. The peaches . . they’re great for mid-winter when we’re craving a fresh peach. They can be re-hydrated in hot water, drained and used in a pie and you’d never know you hadn’t used fresh peaches!
For the peaches, I peel and slice them and give them a dip in a Fruit Fresh solution.
Drain them in a colander.
Drain some more on a towel.
Spread on the dehydrator trays.
6 trays of peaches and 3 trays of beans.
Leave everything alone for about 12 hours and then I get this:
Stick everything in vacuum seal bags and use when needed.
The dehydrator is in the garage and when I’m doing a batch of peaches, all around my neighborhood smells like fresh peaches! I love living at my house! 🙂
Pat says
I have a small dehydrator and we’ve not used it for a long time. I used to dry apples with it. We do have a pick-your-own peach place nearby…..might dry some this year. Have you ever dried strawberries? If so and if it works well, I might do that next year when the pick-your-own strawberries are available!
pdudgeon says
Pat, my husband is a big fan of dried strawberries and loves them for snacks. we buy them at the local supermarket where they are priced just a bit higher than the fresh berries.
Judy Laquidara says
I loved dried strawberries too.
Judy Laquidara says
Strawberries are good to munch on but they don’t re-hydrate well. Peaches and apples, I can pour hot water over them, let them sit for a while, drain them and use them in pies or cobblers and you’d never know they weren’t fresh but strawberries just turn to mush when you try to re-hydrate them but oh, they’re a yummy snack!
Nancy says
Do you need to refrigerate the dried goods? And how long are they good?
Judy Laquidara says
You do not need to refrigerate. Everything I’ve read says it will last for 6 months. I’ve had apples that I kept longer than 6 months and they were fine. We always run out of peaches before 6 months though.
Debbie says
If you don’t mind me asking what brand is your dehydrator? It looks similar to one we had many years ago by Equal-flow. We loved using it and I could even make yogurt in it.
Linda C says
I love dehydrated fruit; we dry apples in a small dehydrator in season. Will have to try peaches. My problem is in our house very little of the fruit actually makes it to storage. Somehow (hovering roommates, packer) it just vanishes between the drying racks and the bags.
Judy Laquidara says
I’m that person that you have to hide the fruit from! I love to munch on dried peaches and apples but I also love to munch on most anything! 🙂
Judy D says
I dried strawberries and made leather while 10 yo granddaughter was here. She “didn’t like” strawberries until she tasted them dried, then tried fresh. I had to stash the dried berries so we could have some later. My favorite fruit to dry and eat is Asian pears……we call it pear candy. And watermelon is delicious! I love my dehydrator. Oh, and veggie mix for quick, easy crockpot soup…..
Kathy says
I have never heard of such a thing…seriously, you are a wealth of information on so many topics! If I had a bigger house, I’d love to do stuff like that!
JudyL says
Our dehydrator stays in the garage. It’s awfully big to store in the house. It sits on a shelf in the garage, stays plugged in most of the time and we just bring the trays inside, fill them and then stick them in the dehydrator.
CJ says
Judy, have you tried blueberries? I love dried fruit, but I can’t seem to dehydrate blueberries to save my life!
Rose says
Never dried peppers. Like the idea of hanging peppers to dry. Do you dry the whole pepper or do you slice open to remove the seeds. Like the idea of hanging them to dry by the stems. I have frozen diced peppers to save when prices are so high in the winter.